Wanted to hear stories on waterbreaking

[tryingitnatural]

I am a first timer and I have been having anxiety lately about my water breaking in public places. I was just wondering if that happens often I just have this picture in my head that my water will break and there I will be in a pool of water wondering what I can clean it up with :LOL Should I not worry about this? Or should I stay home and not go out for a couple of weeks till the baby is born

[MamaFern]

i wondered about this as well, but i dont think its as common as it is shown on TV and movies..

my water never broke, my midwife after hours and hours of labor ruptured my membraines, but it didnt do much, just a little trickle of fluid came out.. i think its very common for your bag of waters not to break,or not till the pushing stage..but more common for a caregiver to break them to help labor along. thats my understanding anyways

[zjande]

I think it doesn't happen very commonly either. I've been obsessed with reading & hearing birth stories ever since my 14 yr old was in my belly, & even then I've rarely heard stories of a woman's water just gushing out in public. I think they usually start as a slow leak, & more often than that, don't break until you are in labor & probably not going to be out & about in public. Personally, mine didn't break either time until the Dr. broke it during hard labor.

[MelW]

The stats for water breaking before labour starts range from 5-15ish percent. Lots of women feel "something"- like a bubble before it happens, and so most real stories involve water breaking while sitting on the toilet, etc. And sometimes it's just a trickle, not a big gush to start.

I've only known of two real stories with the embarrasing water breaking in public scenario- one woman was in the change room at the swimming pool, so she just showered, put on a pad, then went home. The other was in a restaurant, and she said it was kind of messy and embarrasing.

Lots of people have it happen in bed or in the bathroom at home- so sleeping with some kind of towel or waterproof pad on your bed might be a good idea for the last few weeks. Staying home and not going out would probably be crazy-making, though

[wasabi]

It is not really common at all. My mom had five kids and it happened to her only once and that was a spectacular gush in the grocery store. For some reason she dropped a jar of pickles and then told them that needed to be cleaned up.

[tryingitnatural]

wasabi

Jar of pickles :LOL that is too funny. If it happens to me in the grocery store I will keep that in mind Thanks to all of you for making me feel a little better but I just read an article where they took a poll of how many people worry about having a bowel movement during the final part of labor. Something else to be anxious about

[MamaFern]

Originally Posted by tryingitnatural

Jar of pickles :LOL that is too funny. If it happens to me in the grocery store I will keep that in mind Thanks to all of you for making me feel a little better but I just read an article where they took a poll of how many people worry about having a bowel movement during the final part of labor. Something else to be anxious about

but you know what.. its totally normal!! its nothing to feel scared or self concious about.. everyone poops.. and of course you are pushing Super hard to get that baby out.. i didnt really feel very hungry the day or so before my labour started and i had quite a few BM's in the days before. im guessing my body was cleansing itself naturally for the birth process.. its not uncommon for even just a little bit to come out when you are pushing and your dr or midwife will just wipe it away, no problem.. they are used to it! and if you are having a waterbirth thats what the pool net is for

[Queen of Cups]

I've always read that only 10% or fewer labors start with spontaneously having your water break - so don't worry about it unless you're planning on having 10 kids! :LOL My bag was "bulging" for the last week before I delivered and I was walking around at 6cm, and my water didn't break until I was in labor and at 10 cm!

Yeah, most women poop when they're pushing out the baby. Honestly - you do not care at that point. You are so focused on the total intensity of the pushing/pressure that you could care less. It crossed my mind for a nanosecond that my in-laws were watching me poop (they were at the birth) - but by that point I'd been pushing for 2 hours and had been naked for the entire time and I didn't give a rip. Later my FIL told DH that he thought the birth was beautiful and was surprised that nothing made him embarassed at all - he thought it was so natural and wonderful to see a baby being born! THAT'S what people (including you) remember - seeing a beautiful child come into the world. NOT the bodily functions that were going on at the time.

[bec]

I had my water break with my first before labor started. It was a pretty big gush, but I was able to make it to the bathroom and only soaked my undies and pants a little (I had some killer pelvic floor muscles, then! :LOL ). I was also at home, so no embarasment factor.

I wouldn't have worried about it, though, if it had been in public. I mean, I had much bigger things to worry about than who would clean it up at that point!



Bec

[RainCoastMama]

(I requested an enema before I gave birth - moreso that I wouldn't have to deal with BMs after I gave birth as opposed to pooping on the table - couldn't really care )

My water broke before labour. I was sitting on the couch, doing nothing but watching tv when I heard an actual POP. It took me a few surprised seconds to figure it out and I made it to the bathroom where...GUSH! It filled the toilet. It was amazing! No pain or anything. It became a trickle after forever, and I put on a big pad, and a towel on the bed and waited for labour to happen.

It never did...that night. My doula told me to call the hospital just in case and their procedure was that I check in - they were worried about infection. It took a full 24 hrs for labour to start - they wanted to induce me but I refused, walked around a lot and it started naturally.

Dee

[s_kristina]

My water broke in early labor at home with my dd. I am honestly not sure when it broke because it was trickling out at such a slow speed. I had been to see my ob that morning just a couple days before my edd. He had stipped my membranes in an attempt to avoid using meds to induce me for pre eclampsia. I ended up calling the office late that afternoon trying to figure out if the discharge was still from having my membranes stripped or if my water had broken. The nurse that I talked to was not helpful at all! She told me "if you think your water has broken go to the hospital" and would not discuss if the discharge might be from having my membranes stripped : I had a bad feeling that if I went in the hospital and my water hadn;t broken they would try to induce me anyway, I had pitting edema at that point. So I waited several hours longer at home trying to figure things out and finally went in late at night when I was pretty sure yes my water had broken and yes this is labor.

[memory maker]

my water broke at night while I was in bed with ds. It was enough of a gush that it woke me up. However I didnt have contractions right away, so that made labor longer. I kept leaking pretty good for the next couple of hours. I just put a pad on when we went to the hospital and that was enough

[crsta33]

I rolled over in bed and felt a little pop and a trickle when my water broke with dd. There wasn't a huge gush, and without the pop feeling I would've thought I'd just wet myself. Labor started with some herbal help later that morning.

I think you are most likely to have your water break when you are changing positions...like getting out of bed or out of the car. I know several ppl who had theirs break on the toilet. And my BIL's mom was sitting in a chair watching TV with her dh sitting on the floor between her feet when her water broke...all over dad-to-be

Does anyone know if you are more likely to have your water break the 2nd time if it broke at the beginning of labor the first? I don't guess it matters, but it'd be neat to know whether to expect it or not.

Christa

[lilsishomemade]

My water broke with my first, but it was only a trickle. I was walking with my mom (10 days overdue and I felt my first contraction, so she had me out and walking). I was wearing black pants, so it wasn't noticeable. It actually kinda felt like I was peeing, but I couldn't stop the stream!!

As for pooping, everyone does it. I never even noticed it happened to me, I was too "busy", only knew because dh mentioned it later.

[Slackermom]

Originally Posted by tryingitnatural

but I just read an article where they took a poll of how many people worry about having a bowel movement during the final part of labor. Something else to be anxious about

When I was pg with DD, I worried about this SO much! I was seriously obsessed with the pooping scenario. But when my birthing time came, I could have cared less who saw me do what. It was DH I was concerned about, but by the end of that day he'd seen me throw up, pee, and various other attractive things...and he didn't care. This time, I haven't even thought about it. Seriously, at this stage of the game, I'd be happy for *anything* that makes me poop!

[Sleepymama]

I also had the roll-over-in-bed and pop-trickle before labor. There was so little fluid I wasn't even positive it was my water (1st birth). It took about an hour or two for the ctx to kick in after that, and I would get a little squirt with each contraction, then it really broke in earnest about 4-5 hours into the labor.

Now I'm more afraid of PROM because of infection/more painful labor possibilities, rather than having it break in public. I mean, you're hugely pregnant, people know you're about to have a baby and most people would probably just flutter around asking you to sit down or call 911 or something :LOL

My mom had the same thing happen both times though, so I wonder if there is a genetic component?

[BensMom]

Originally Posted by Sleepymama

Now I'm more afraid of PROM because of infection/more painful labor possibilities, rather than having it break in public.

I'm with you. I want this bag of waters to stay intact as long as possible because I hear that the pain is so much worse once its broken. Of course YMMV, but I hope all these high quality prenatals I choke down every day keeps that bag nice and strong.

[birthjunkie27]

Add me to the water breaking in bed club. With both of my babies this is how my labors started (With #1 I was rolling over to give Dh a kiss goodbye, he was on his way to work and I felt a pop. With #2 I was sleeping, and woke up to the feeling of wetness). And both times I thought I had wet the bed (with pee). I'd go to the toilet and the pee just wouldn't stop so I figured it was amniotic fluid.

[wednesday]

My water broke when I was getting out of bed for an early a.m. pee. Contractions started a couple hours later.

[kroonkles]

both times I had the pop, gush in bed scenario. felt like the baby gave a kick and then the water broke. 2nd time, I had already been dilated 4-5 cm. I guess it would be embarrassing if I was in public...

also had pooping with my first (not sure about 2nd, it was so fast), I remember being worried about it, but it was not a big deal.